Has Facebook been used in child support cases?
Sure, if it provides evidence relevant to a child support issue. Such as?
- proof of employment – if the child support obligor claims “I can’t pay support, I don’t have a job,” but then posts statements and images on Facebook that refute that claim.
- proof of income and income sources- if the child support obligor or obligee claims “I only earn $X doing Y things” and then posts statements and images on Facebook that show he/she makes more than $X or works somewhere other than or in addition to Y, that’s relevant.
- If the child support obligor or obligee claims to have no sources of income other than a job, when in reality he/she has other sources, such as royalties, bonuses, rents, gifts from anyone, prizes, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, alimony from previous marriages, annuities, capital gains, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment compensation, income replacement disability insurance benefits, and payments from “nonmeans-tested” government programs and THAT comes up on Facebook, that’s relevant.
- ability to work – if the child support obligor claims “I can’t pay support, I can’t work,” or the child support obligee claims “I need more child support, I can’t work,” but then either or both of them posts statements and images on Facebook that show they can work or do work, that’s relevant.
- failure to exercise custody or parent-time – if the child support obligor or obligee claims “I spend all the time I was awarded with the kids” but then posts statements and images on Facebook that show this is not true (showing that you’re partying in St. Barts and nowhere near the kids when it’s your week or weekend, for example), that is relevant to the child support calculation.
- material changes in the relative wealth or assets of the parties – if the child support obligor or obligee claims “What? Me the winner of the lottery?” (or something similar) but then posts statements and images on Facebook that show he/she has clearly experienced some substantial change in wealth or assets (i.e., posing next to a new boat with the caption “This is what a 30% raise’ll get ya!”), that too is relevant to the child support calculation.
Evidence other than and in addition to Facebook postings (such as pay stubs and tax returns) must be considered and be considered more than Facebook posts alone, but there are many situations in which Facebook can and does provide useful, persuasive evidence relevant to child support issues.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
https://www.quora.com/Has-Facebook-been-used-in-child-support-cases/answer/Eric-Johnson-311
Tags: Child Support, evidence, Facebook, pay stubs, relevance, social media, tax returns